Public radio stations are saving Gothamist sites

Last year, billionaire Joe Ricketts shut down Gothamist and DNAInfo a week after newsroom employees unionized. Though there was immediate public outcry over the decision, the sites’ future has remained bleak and uncertain, but, as Wired reports, they’re now getting an unexpected helping hand from some old-school media — public radio. At least three public radio stations — New York’s WNYC, Washington DC’s WAMU and Southern California’s KPCC — will be taking over Gothamist and associated sites like LAist, DCist and DNAInfo, maintaining their archives and adding new content in the near future.

Gothamist founders Jake Dobkin and Jen Chung said that the sudden shutdown of the sites last year was unexpected. “We tried to do our best to improve the situation and bring something positive out of it, and we did,” Dobkin told Wired. Two anonymous donors have provided funds for the deal, though the amount hasn’t been disclosed.

Going forward, WNYC will run Gothamist alongside its own site. Chung and WNYC staff will write content for it and at some point, new hires and possibly previous Gothamist staff members will join the team. WAMU plans to hire three people for DCist and hopes to start adding new content this spring. And KPCC’s Alex Schaffert told Wired, “Our goal is to generate new content for the site, build on the archive of stories that we were fortunate to acquire and integrate LAist into KPCC’s portfolio of services.”

Dobkin told Wired that they’re still looking for additional local radio stations to take over other Gothamist sites like Chicagoist and SFist.

Via: Wired

Not even IBM is sure where its quantum computer experiments will lead

Despite the hype and hoopla surrounding the burgeoning field of quantum computing, the technology is still in its infancy. Just a few years ago, researchers were making headlines with rudimentary machines that housed less than a dozen qubits — the quantum version of a classical computer’s binary bit. At IBM’s inaugural Index Developer Conference held in San Francisco this week, the company showed off its latest prototype: a quantum computing rig housing 50 qubits, one of the most advanced machines currently in existence.

Quantum computing — with its ability to calculate and solve algorithms in parallel, at speeds far faster than conventional computers — promises to revolutionize fields from chemistry and logistics to finance and physics. The thing is, while quantum computing is a technology for the world of tomorrow, it hasn’t yet advanced far enough for anyone to know what that world will actually look like.

“People aren’t going to just wake up in three or four years, and say, ‘Oh okay, now I’m ready to use quantum, what do I have to learn,’” Bob Sutor, VP of IBM Q Strategy and Ecosystem at IBM Research, told Engadget.

These systems rely on the “spooky” properties of quantum physics, as Einstein put it, and their operation is radically different from how today’s computers work. “What you’re basically doing is you’re replacing the notion of bits with something called qubits,” Sutor said. “Ultimately when you measure a qubit it’s zero or one, but before that there’s a realm of freedom of what that can actually be. It’s not zero and one at the same time or anything like this, it just takes on values from a much, much larger mathematical space.

“The basic logic gates [AND, OR, NOT, NOR, etc], those gates are different for quantum,” he continued. “The way the different qubits work together to get to a solution is completely different from the way the bits within your general memory works.” Rather than tackling problems in sequence, as classical computers do, quantum rigs attempt to solve them in parallel. This enables quantum computers to solve certain equations, such as modeling complex molecules, far more efficiently.

This efficiency, however, is tempered by the system’s frailty. Currently, a qubit’s coherence time tops out at 90 milliseconds before decaying. That is, if a qubit is designated as a 1, it’ll only remain a 1 for 0.09 seconds. “After that all bets are off. You’ve got a certain amount of time in which to actually use this thing reliably,” Sutor said. “Any computations you’re going to do with a qubit have to come within that period.”

As such quantum computers are highly sensitive to interference from temperature, microwaves, photons, even the electricity running the machine itself. Sutor said, “With heat you’ve got lots of electrons moving around, bumping into each other,” which can lead to the qubit’s decoherence. That’s why these rigs have to be cooled to near absolute zero on order to operate.

“Outer space in the shade is between two and three degree Kelvin,” Sutor explained. “Outer space is much too warm to do these types of calculations.” Instead, the lowest levels of a quantum computer rig, where the calculations themselves take place, exist at a frosty 10 millikelvin — a tenth of a degree above absolute zero. So no, Sutor assured Engadget, we probably shouldn’t expect desktop quantum computers running at room temperature to exist within the next few decades — perhaps even within our lifetimes.

Surprisingly, these systems are fairly energy efficient. Aside from the energy needed to sufficiently cool the system for operation (a process that takes around 36 hours) IBM’s 50-qubit rig only draws 10 to 15 kilowatts of power — roughly equivalent to a standard microwave oven.

So now that IBM has developed a number of quantum computer systems ranging from 5 to 50 qubits, the next challenge is figuring out what to do with them. And that’s where the company’s Q network comes in. Last December, IBM announced that it’s partnering with a number of Fortune 500 companies and research institutes — including JPMorgan Chase, Samsung, Honda, Japan’s Keio University, Oak Ridge National Lab and Oxford University — to suss out potential practical applications for the technology.

Learning centers like Keio University also act as localized hubs. “We in IBM research, while we have a large team on this, we can’t work with everybody in the world who wants to work on quantum computing,” Sutor explained. These hubs, however, “can work with local companies, local colleges, whomever to do whatever. They would get their quantum computer power from us, but they would be at the front lines.” The same is true for Oakridge National Lab, Oxford University and the University of Melbourne.

What’s more, the company has also launched the IBM Q experience which allows anyone — businesses, universities, even private citizens — to write and submit their own quantum application or experiment to be run on the company’s publicly available quantum computing rig. It’s essentially a cloud service for quantum computations. So far more than 75,000 people have taken advantage of the service, running more than 2.5 million calculations which have resulted in more than two dozen published research papers on subjects ranging from quantum phase space measurement to homomorphic encryption.

But while the public’s interest in this technology is piqued, there is a significant knowledge gap that must be overcome before we start to see quantum applications proliferate the way classical programs did in the 1970s and ’80s. “Let’s say in the future you’re running investment house types of calculations [similar to the financial risk applications that JP Morgan is currently developing],” Sutor points out, “there are big questions as to what those would be, and what the algorithms would be. We’re way too early to have anything determined like that, even to the extent of knowing how well [quantum computing] will be applicable in some of these other areas.”

The entry point for writing programs is a challenge too. For classical computers, it’s as simple as running a compiler. But there’s not yet such a function for quantum computers. “What does it mean to optimize a quantum program knowing that this completely different from the model that’s in your phone?” he queried.

Another challenge that must be overcome is how to scale these machines. As Sutor points out, it’s a simple enough task to add qubits to silicon chips, but every component added, increases the amount of heat generated and the amount of energy needed to keep the system within its operational temperature boundaries.

So rather than simply packing in more and more qubits and setting off a quantum version of Moore’s Law, Sutor believes that the next major step forward for this technology is quality over quantity. “Having 50 great qubits is much more powerful than having 2,000 lousy ones,” he quipped. “You don’t want something very noisy that you’re going to have to fix,” but instead research should focus on improving the system’s fidelity over increasing the qubit count.

But even as quantum technologies continue to improve, there will still be a place in the world of tomorrow for classical computers. “Don’t think of quantum as a wholesale replacement for anything you do,” Sutor warned. “The theory says that you could run any classical algorithm on a quantum rig but it would be so glacially slow because it’s not designed to run those types of products.”

Instead, Sutor prefers to think of the current crop of quantum technologies as an accelerator. “It does certain things very quickly, it does some things we don’t know how to do well classically… and so it’ll work hand in hand that way.”

And if you’re waiting for today’s quantum computers to be able to compete with modern supercomputers anytime soon, you shouldn’t hold your breath. “We need to get several orders of magnitude better than we are now to probably move into that period where we’re solving the really super hard problems,” he said.

“Just to be very clear,” Sutor concluded, “this is a play for the 21st century… this is I think going to be one of the most critical computing technologies for the remainder of the century, and major breakthroughs will occur all along the line. Many of which we can’t even imagine right now.”

Infographic: IBM

Netflix courts HGTV fans with its first home makeover series

Netflix appears to be looking to pull in more of that HGTV crowd, as Deadline reports that the streaming service just ordered its first property-focused original series. With a working title of Amazing On The Inside, the show will reportedly feature homes that look ordinary on the outside but have incredible interiors that reflect their owners’ passions and identities. Deadline says Netflix has ordered 12 30-minute episodes.

It won’t be the only home property show on Netflix — it already hosts series like Reno My Reno, Brojects and Grand Designs — but it’s the first original of this type of show commissioned by the service. The show comes from British production company Barcroft Productions.

Netflix also recently announced it would be expanding its slate of animated originals with a new Tiffany Haddish-led series from the team behind Bojack Horseman called Tuca & Bertie. It also just snagged the rights to the Duplass Brothers’ next four films.

Via: Deadline

YouTube App on Apple TV Updated Following User Complaints Over Subscriptions Layout and More

It’s been just over two weeks since YouTube updated its Apple TV app with a major redesign, essentially bringing the app in line with YouTube on other products like Android TV, smart TVs, PS4, and Xbox One. While the original YouTube Apple TV app was never widely favored, the new update was met with even more blowback from some users, who referenced laggy controls, poorer playback UI, illogical changes to the subscription tab’s channel list, and more.

This week, YouTube pushed out version 1.01.04 of the app for Apple TV 4th and 5th generation devices, and it addresses a few of these user concerns. The major update is a “modified” subscriptions tab that nixes the long horizontal list of subscribed YouTube channels — which made it take much longer to get to channels at the bottom of the alphabetized list — and reverts back to a grid layout akin to the original app. YouTube said this was done for “easier channel selection.”

Although it’s not mentioned in the update notes, one user on Reddit said that there have also been a few tweaks to video scrubbing, so users can “go through the video with the touchpad again instead of slowly rewinding/fast forwarding.” When doing this, thumbnail previews of the video pop up to give you an idea of where to land as you jump through the video, but YouTube still doesn’t use Apple’s systemwide playback UI and there isn’t any support for quick 10-second jumps forward and backward.

Otherwise, YouTube said that the update fixed an issue with the search keyboard when people were using “non-Siri TV remotes,” and it includes the usual bug fixes and stability improvements.

Related Roundup: Apple TVTag: YouTubeBuyer’s Guide: Apple TV (Buy Now)
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Apple Denied Request to Ban Tax Protestors From Its Stores in France

The High Court of Paris on Friday denied Apple’s request for an injunction that would have blocked activist group Attac from protesting at the company’s retail stores across France, as it has been doing for the past several months.

Attac activists protesting at an Apple Store in France via Libération
The order states that the mere presence of protesters at Apple’s stores in France, without violence, vandalism, or customers being blocked from entering the premises, is not enough to justify limiting the group’s rights to freedom of expression and freedom of peaceful assembly protected by human rights laws in Europe.

The court added that Attac acted in accordance with the European Union’s Statutes of the Association, and defined the protests as a matter of public interest. Apple has been ordered to pay 2,000 euros to cover Attac’s legal fees, according to the order, which was earlier reported by French website MacGeneration.

Attac is a voluntary association that has been accusing Apple of corporate tax evasion in Europe, in line with the European Commission ordering Ireland to recover around 13 billion euros in back taxes from the iPhone maker in 2016. Apple and Ireland have denied the accusations and are appealing the decision.

Apple previously said it has “a long tradition of supporting individuals and groups that peacefully express their opinions,” but it accused Attac’s activists of “vandalizing shops and endangering the security of staff and customers,” which it finds unacceptable, according to court documents obtained by The Guardian.

During a stunt at an Apple store in Aix-en-Provence last November, for example, activists painted “pay your taxes” on the glass windows. Attac also gathered in front of the High Court of Paris last week with Stormtrooper costumes and Star Wars-themed signs that equated Apple to the evil Galactic Empire.

Apple CEO Tim Cook equated to Darth Sidious via Sol Trumbo Vila‏
Attac has a different view. In a blog post published today, the association said it is “defending the public interest” with “non-violent citizen actions,” and it has previously called its actions “festive and good-natured.”

Apple has yet to comment on today’s decision, and it’s unclear if it will exercise other legal options in its fight against Attac.

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Tags: corporate tax, France, Attac
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Does the Google Pixel 2 have Bluetooth issues?

It all depends.

As great as the first-generation Google Pixel was, one thing it wasn’t was a perfect phone. The Pixel had its fair share of issues, with one of the most annoying being inconsistent Bluetooth performance.

The Pixel 2 fixes a lot of the complaints people had with its older sibling, but how does it fare when it comes using Bluetooth?

One of our forum users recently asked this very question, and these are a few of the responses they received.

Almeuit
02-21-2018 02:56 PM

“

Some people have issues with various cars. With my 2017 F150 and my BT headset I use at work I have had no issues. I use my BT headset at work all day and use the BT in the truck every time I drive.

Reply

MooMooPrincess
02-21-2018 03:00 PM

“

This. In my 2010 Cobalt (am Bluetooth) I have 0 issues, my 2011 infiniti? Issues, my 2016 infiniti? 0 issues.

Reply

mtbmike24
02-22-2018 11:38 AM

“

Zero issues hooks up to all the Bluetooth head phones I have. My helmet Bluetooth my command center in my truck a wireless jbl speaker and a old black berry gateway I have in my other vehicle. Pretty much flawless. Have had my 2xl since October. It even works great with my Microsoft band 2 . Notifications, responding to text and syncing everything works as it should. It also works great with my…

Reply

TraderGary
02-22-2018 05:21 PM

“

Zero Bluetooth issues here.
I have a Pixel 2 XL 128.
Works with my Sony HW100XM2 wireless headphones.
Works with my car Garmin GPS for wireless hands free calling.
Works with my wireless Omron Blood Pressure device.
Works with my wireless HP LaserJet Pro M402dw printer.
Works with my wireless Canon InkJet printer.
Works with my Chromecast on several TV’s.
Works with my Chromecast Audio…

Reply

Now, we’d like to pass the question on to you — If you have the Pixel 2, have you run into any Bluetooth issues?

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Kingdom Hearts 3 for PlayStation 4: Everything we know so far!

Want to know what’s going on with Kingdom Hearts 3? Here’s what we know so far

In the early years of gaming, there were quite a few swings taken at the creation of a game utilizing Disney properties. Most of those games were ranged anywhere from unplayable to mediocre as far as quality goes.

Then in 2002, Square released Kingdom Hearts onto the PlayStation 2. Disney fans and gamers rejoiced as they finally had a significant video game with Disney characters. Thus far, there have been a total of nine Kingdom Hearts games and here in 2018 Square stands poised to release a new entry to the gaming public.

We have been hearing rumblings about Kingdom Hearts 3 for years now but there is finally light at the end of the tunnel for fans of the series. As it stands now, we should see a release toward the end of 2018. However, what do we know about Kingdom Hearts 3? Let’s take a look.

A whole new world

Since its inception, an important element of the Kingdom Hearts games has been setting. Part of the joy of these games is the opportunity to explore familiar Disney worlds in a way that is not possible when you’re watching a film. Some of the worlds which have been tapped for inclusion in KH3 include Toy Story, Monsters Inc, Tangled, and even San Fransokyo from Big Hero 6.

With Disney owning just about every existing IP under the sun there doesn’t seem to be many worlds left that are not within their reach. However, everything indicates that all the worlds tapped for inclusion will remain those who lie directly under the Disney Umbrella.

Characters Welcome

Another critical element of the Kingdom Hearts series has, of course, been characters. There is something undeniably exciting about running into some of your favorite Disney denizens whilst you progress through a KH game.

While your main characters will remain steadfast there is, as to be expected, some additions. With the inclusion of the aforementioned worlds, it should come as no surprise that we will see end up crossing paths with their related character inhabitants. I, for one, am totally ready to get some heals from Beymax.

Gameplay

Everything we have seen thus far indicates that we will see similar gameplay elements as developed in previous KH entries. That being said, director, Tetsuya Nomura is incredibly skilled at taking existing mechanics and adding new things in order to bring increased depth to the gaming experience.

We have to imagine that we will see a hack and slash base to the combat like previous entries. Trailers seem to indicate that Sora has been practicing parkour and we should see new traversal methods available. In addition, we should be seeing some pretty epic team-up attacks between our main characters.

When can I play?

As it stands, it’s still a bit far away from release for us to start holding our collective breath. Everything is subject to change but at this very moment, Amazon has the release date set for December 31st of 2018. If you want to get in line early, you can always head over and preorder a copy for $60.

See at Amazon

In its long and storied history, Kingdom Hearts has done a stellar job of taking the elements that work and adding new ones. Like a fine wine KH has (mostly) gotten better with age. At this point, we don’t know everything about what is in store for us but as the year progresses we will undoubtedly see more new pieces of the puzzle unveiled. I think Square knows that part of the magic and joy in these games is the surprise of running into unexpected characters. I have no doubt that they are holding a few cards close to their chests for the time being but I can’t wait to find out what those cards are.

What do you want to see in Kingdom Hearts 3?

Why are we reviewing PlayStation 4 games on Android Central? Let us explain.

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Samsung Max is a new VPN that’s replacing Opera Max

And it’s only available for Samsung phones.

A few years back, Opera Max was one of the most popular VPNs designed to help you save as much data as possible while using your phone. The service was discontinued by Opera last August, and now Samsung is digging it out of its grave and relaunching it as Samsung Max.

Similar to Opera Max, Samsung Max will help users cut back on their monthly data usage while also ensuring their online connection is as secure as can be. As such, Samsung Max consists of two primary modes — Data Saving Mode and Privacy Protection Mode.

As the name suggests, Data Saving Mode is all about helping you use less data and potentially save money with your wireless carrier bill. Samsung Max will notify you when it detects applications that are using considerable amounts of data, it can compress images, videos, and music files for lighter web-browsing, and users can choose to automatically block background data from being used by certain apps.

On the other hand, Privacy Protection Mode gives users a one-tap solution that protects them with encryption, tracker blocking, and a DNS mask when using public/unsecured Wi-Fi networks.

Samsung Max is being launched as part of Samsung’s “Make for India” program, but it’ll come preinstalled on Galaxy A and Galaxy J devices in Argentina, Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico, Nigeria, South Africa, Thailand, and Vietnam, in addition to India. Users in other countries with Samsung phones can also download Samsung Max through both the Play Store and Samsung’s Galaxy Apps.

See at Google Play

How to fix the incorrect time on your Android phone

It’s.. time… to learn how to fix your phone’s wrong time.

Most of us depend on our phone to keep track of the time. Whether you need to use it as an alarm or timer or just want to have a look and see what time it is, our phone has become the de facto watch of the 21st century. That means it’s not fun at all if your phone won’t keep the correct time. And having the time blip in and out of being correct can wreak havoc on your calendar or another app that needs to stay in sync.

Android and almost every other smart operating system on your electronic things use what are called time servers to keep track of the time and date. These can be dedicated standalone servers or a software component on another server and there are plenty of them out there. Most likely, your phone synchronizes its time and date with a network tower through your carrier who uses a time server to stay in sync.

For people who live at the edge of a time zone, that means things can be a little tricky. If you connect to a server or tower on the other side of that imaginary line your time can be an hour off. Things can be even worse when you live in a place that splits away from one of the zones in a small island like parts of Arizona, Illinois, or the Florida panhandle.

This all sounds unnecessarily complicated, but luckily there is an easy solution — set your time manually.

How to manually set your phone’s time

Sometimes your phone just won’t connect to the time server and you’ll just keep getting the wrong time. In that case, you should go rogue manual.

Jump into your phone’s settings.
Head to Date & Time.

• Your phone’s settings may have this slightly different depending on your manufacturer and Android version.

Find Automatic date & time and disable it.
Find Automatic time zone and disable it.
Set your time and time zone manually.

Of course, if you’re traveling through different time zones this isn’t going to update. You’ll have to keep your time synchronized manually in that case.

How to force your phone to get the right time again

If your phone isn’t connecting to the time server, you may be able to force it to connect by disabling and re-enabling the connection.

Jump into your phone’s settings.
Head to Date & Time.

• Your phone’s settings may have this slightly different depending on your manufacturer and Android version.

Find Automatic date & time and disable it. Re-enable it again.
Find Automatic time zone and disable it. Re-enable it again.
Set your time and time zone manually.

Apps like Atomic Clock can keep the correct time in a widget (or set your actual clock if you are rooted. Thankfully, most equipment in use is able to work with your location and make sure your time is right. But if it’s not, at least there’s a relatively simple fix.

Awair Glow air quality monitor review: Wonderfully informative if not a bit worrisome

Are you curious about the air quality in your home? The Google Home- and Alexa-compatible Awair Glow can help you breathe easy.

I’m an allergy sufferer. I’m allergic to dust, pollen, mould, trees, grasses, an assortment of barnyard animals, cats, dogs, smoke, and more. And like an idiot, I have both a cat and a dog in a rather small home that’s over 65 years old.

I’ve long wondered about the air quality in this house: we have a newer furnace and replace the filter fairly frequently, but it’s always so dry in here and you can’t eat anything without it being peppered by dog or cat hair.

When I was offered the Awair Glow to review, I was surprised it existed, excited to see what the air in my house was like, and worried that it’d reveal something sinister. If you’ve been looking for a way to monitor your home’s air quality, you’re gonna wanna check this out.

See at Amazon

Design, setup, functionality, oh my!

I love the Awair Glow’s design. It essentially looks like an oversize Glade plug-in air freshener. For some, it may be an eyesore, while for others it may just melt in with the rest of their smart home products. The thing you have to remember is that this is more than just an air quality monitor.

The thing you have to remember is that this is more than just an air quality monitor.

The first thing you notice is the big power button right on the front — that’s because the Glow doubles as a smart plug, á la TP-Link or iDevices. You plug it into your existing power outlets without losing a spot to plug something in. It does, however, bulge over into the bottom outlet spot (if you plug it into the top socket), so it’s a bit cumbersome to plug in a larger adapter beneath it.

On the top is a faux-wood piece with the air quality LED indicator in it. If it’s green, your air’s good. Yellow is fair, and red is unh-unh, no good, here, take this gas mask and get out. Surrounding the wood plate is actually a nightlight, which is wonderfully bright and just plain looks cool.

On each side of the Glow is a vent, which is presumably where the air gets in, mingles with the Glows parts, and the magic happens. All in all, this is a lovely, if not derivative-looking air monitor/smart plug, and I like it.

Air, I took you for granted

Let’s talk about Awair’s app. It’s elegantly designed and straightforward, which is exactly what you want when dealing with something that can be as complicated as air quality. When checking out your current air status, or “Score,” you’ll see a measurement of the room’s temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide level, and “chemicals.” Each has a graded scale from green to red, and depending on the color, is given a rating from good to poor. The one thing I’d like to see here that I don’t is what kinds of chemicals the “chemicals” reading refers to. The term is dubious and when you see the value climb higher than the “good” range, it can be a bit troubling.

Down the bottom of the app are tabs that let you check out tips on improving air quality, historical trends in your air quality, your other devices, notifications, and your air quality score. I love that you can break down your historical trends into the four subcategories that you see in your score. That’ll let you know if the improvements you choose to make are helping at all.

Another awesome feature of the app is the ability to change your air quality preferences to match what concerns you. So I, for instance, have my preferences set to “Allergy”, which gives me a reading and recommendations based on improving the air quality for an allergy sufferer. You can also choose General, Sleep, Productivity, and Baby. Changing these preferences won’t change the actual readings of each of the four air quality categories, but it will change how these values affects the type of air quality you’re looking for. For example, the Productivity setting really focuses on the carbon dioxide levels in your home, since elevated levels of carbon dioxide have been shown to negatively affect productivity. The Allergy setting focuses on the chemicals in the air and the humidity.

What’s really made me appreciate this app is how the readings change in real time. We decided to give this thing a good test one day, so we vacuumed and cleaned up thoroughly. For the first little while after, the chemicals were quite high, so we had obviously disturbed pet dander and whatnot while cleaning up. But after a short time (once things had settled, presumably), the chemical levels started to drop and readings changed.

The push notifications are actually handy and not just, “hey, it’s cold in here, do something.”

The push notifications are quite handy, and they aren’t just “hey, it’s cold in here — fix it”; they’re actually helpful. You’ll get notifications along the lines of “carbon dioxide levels are climbing; adding plants to your home can help bring those down and up productivity.” For some reason, it also never occurred to me that having a more humid home would cut down on the amount of allergens in the air.

Connectivity: Hey Google, turn on the living room lamp and turn off the night light

I recently (finally) purchased a Google Home mini and a TP-Link smart plug. I wanted a second smart plug, but figured I could do without in my small home. Then I realized the Awair Glow had one built-in and was over the moon. It pairs with Google Home excellently, and has not failed once. I have my living room floor lamp plugged into it, and it works like a dream.

The smart plug aspect is probably meant more for an air conditioner, humidifier, fan, or some other air-affecting device, but I like it for the lights. You can actually schedule your devices right in the Awair app, or you can trigger a device with the air quality or motion. Getting too humid? Dehumidifier will turn on. Don’t need the fan while you’re not in the room? It’ll shut off after 10 minutes without motion. You can even set the nightlight to turn on when there’s motion, making it perfect for a hallway or bathroom.

Should you buy it? Absolutely

For roughly $100, you get a multi-use device that, paired with the app, gives you helpful tips and insight into your home’s air quality (something not many folks likely think about on a given day), a smart plug that’s both Alexa- and Google Home-compatible, a nightlight, and peace of mind (or an intense feeling of paranoia). Having not realized what humidity means for air quality, I’ve decided to purchase a humidifier thanks to the Awair Glow, and I’ll likely be better off for it (I’ll update this when I buy one).

If you’ve ever wondered about your home air quality, have a newborn, suffer from asthma or allergies, or simply want a healthier, more comfortable home, then the Awair Glow is the perfect tool to help you monitor and master your home air quality.

See at Amazon